Hi @londondad
As both an alum and parent, I help out at the Tulane information sessions when they are in Boston, and we just had one Wednesday night. As it so happens, the question of “showing interest” or “demonstrated interest” came up and the admission officer for Tulane and I agreed this is really misunderstood. “Showing interest” makes for a catchy, short phrase, but the more accurate description of what Tulane is looking for is that the applicant demonstrates they would truly like to attend Tulane if accepted. Not to say it is the absolute #1 choice, or that if accepted to another school the applicant likes they won’t potentially choose that other school, but that Tulane is truly in the mix as a desired school, not simply a “safety” if they don’t get into Harvard or Stanford. Like any school, Tulane wants students that are really happy to be there, not ones that feel like they “settled” for a school not ranked in the Top 20 by USNWR. Ridiculous as that would be, it happens and it just isn’t good for the student or for the school for that person to be moaning and moping from the day they show up, and potentially looking to transfer if possible before even giving Tulane a chance. I think you get the idea.
And while there are other schools that have similar goals, I think in some ways it is especially important at Tulane. New Orleans on average is farther from home for the students than the campus of other schools is for their student body. And New Orleans, while certainly a sizeable city, is just not as accessible by air with non-stop flights as Boston, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, San Francisco, etc. Unless you are lucky enough to be from a city that is nearby like Houston or Dallas, you are almost always making one stop before getting to NOLA. Now that might sound like a small and trivial thing, but for students away from home for the first time and nervous about how they will do at college and fit in socially, it becomes magnified.
Anyway, the real point is that Tulane is constantly on top or towards the top of the lists of schools with the “Happiest Students”, and that isn’t a happenstance. Also, once you start reading reviews of campus visits, it starts to stand out that people say that Tulane students are among the friendliest, the most outgoingly helpful, the ones that when they spot visiting students spontaneously say “Come to Tulane, you will love it”, and the visitors frequently note that Tulane students wear Tulane clothing far more than they see similar behavior at other schools. It is for those kinds of reasons that Tulane strongly emphasizes finding students that are of high quality academically who also appear to know they would be very happy to be at Tulane.
So after that very long preamble, the answer to your issue is that as long as your daughter makes clear in her “Why Tulane” essay the reasons she would be happy to attend Tulane and become part of such a strong community, she will be fine. Demonstrated interest is not meant to be a checkoff of boxes that the student has accomplished, although what she can do is email the international rep that covers the UK and introduce herself. That is absolutely fine, it doesn’t have to be long or witty. It can simply be something like
“I am very interested in Tulane as I will talk about in my essay. Since I cannot visit from London and there was no information session here I was aware of, I just wanted to write and let you know that my application is coming soon and I am excited about the possibility of being accepted. Tulane looks so great from its web site and videos, and I have heard some wonderful things about the school and New Orleans.”
Just as an example. I can assure you that many, many accepted students never had a chance to visit the campus and certainly foreign students will rarely be able to attend information sessions either. I can tell you that Tulane is on a mission to continue to expand its international student population (it has gone from about 22 to 80 in 3 years) and so that should benefit your daughter, assuming she meets the academic criteria.
Let us know if you have more questions.